Waste containers of the type which have a cover hinged to a base container portion the operation of a foot pedal to rotate the cover on the hinge are well known in the art. Typical of such containers are those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,972,966; 4,865,214 and 4,785,964. These particular containers are all of the type which require two separate foot operations, that is, one depression of the pedal is required to open the container followed by a second depression of the pedal to close the container. While such a system is practical and often desirable for home use, in the commercial environment, such as restaurants, hospitals and the like, to which the present invention is specially directed, the possibility of leaving a container open cannot be tolerated. Thus, in the commercial environment the system must operate such that the cover remains open only as long as there is foot pressure on the pedal.
While such step-on containers, requiring only one foot operation to open and close the containers, are also known in the art, most of these types of products, as well as those which require two separate foot operations, are difficult to assemble and/or include several metallic parts for what otherwise is an all-plastic product. Such metallic parts not only add significant cost to the product but also contribute to the difficulty in assembly. Specifically, the prior art products do not provide for all-plastic containers in which both the attachment of the cover to the base and the cover to the pedal operating mechanism are easy to accomplish without the necessity of any mechanical fasteners.